THE ULTIMATE ANGLING BUCKET LIST

when we catch them, we most certainly would be if they were suddenly to vanish, particularly on the
winter inshore boat scene and from the beaches.
Presumably then, a very familiar fish to most if not all sea anglers, for which reason I don't intend to
spend too much time detailing how to catch them in all the regular ways. Most baits, especially
lugworms and mackerel strips presented on hooks in the size 1 to 2/0 range at or on the bottom over
every type of sea bed from clean sand through to light mixed rough should catch them.
What I would like to do though is explore in a little more detail some of the peripheral stuff surrounding
the species which, despite them being so widespread and obliging, tends not to get too much of an
airing.
Depending on where you fish, whiting are for the most part a back-end and winter species. It's not
common to find them too close in to the shore over the summer months, though they can usually be
caught pretty much to order around north and west Wales.
Elsewhere, the summer whiting I've had have usually been good ones between two and four pounds,
with even bigger specimens always on the cards, which in all cases have come from the south coast of
Devon and Cornwall.
To be more precise, deep water, and usually well offshore. In fact, my first taster came between fifteen
and twenty miles out in a good forty fathoms of water on the drift while shark fishing out from Looe.
Shark fishing is good when there is plenty of action. Less so on a quiet day. Obviously what you do
then to fill in the blanks is try fishing for other things.
One alternative is garfish in the rubby dubby slick which I always enjoy doing. But on other days, I've
sent baited mackerel feathers down to the bottom, which for me and others have brought up quite a
wide variety of fish including megrims, big haddock, and even good sized pollack if you happen to be
crossing a reef, or better still, a wreck.
More often than not though, if the ground is clean, much of the interest will come from big whiting, and
you don't have to be fishing that far offshore either, providing the water is deep.
I remember once fishing a trip out of Gillan Creek at the mouth of the Helford River. It was a holiday
trip, so most of those on-board were none anglers, the plan being to drift a small wreck in fairly deep
water not too far away from the shore.
I don't know what the wreck was,
but I do know it was lying on sand,
because in the drift up to it, the
holiday anglers fishing baited
feathers were bagging up on big
whiting to over four pounds. Then
suddenly, that would switch to big
goggle eyed pouting as we hit the
broken scattered wreckage.
Charlie Pitchers, Mersey Whiting
There were a few other bits and
pieces too. But that's pretty much
the gist of it. Good fishing though
by any standards. In fact, shark
man Frank Vinnicombe who lives
just a few miles up the coast at
Mylor, once showed me a
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